The Wildebrams Saga 2: New Beginnings

Chapter 2: New Year, New Beginnings

By Wilde Abrams

== WMHS Hallway, Lima Ohio - September 2013

An obviously Jewish female student with long dark hair, braids, and glasses walked down the halls with determination and purpose. She had a microphone in her hand with the initials LBI, and was followed by a camera operator.

"Hello, blogosphere," she begins, "Lisel Ben Israel here, picking up where my older brother Jacob left off after he graduated last year, bringing you all of the news that is news at McKinley High!

"I'm going to start off by catching you up on the group of losers known as the former New Directions!"

She walked up to Ryder who is standing next to his locker talking to a cheerleader Missy Gunderson.

"Ryder Lynn," she began, "What does it feel like knowing that that the New Directions were cancelled because they didn't win nationals?"

She shoved the microphone in his face. He was obviously annoyed and said, "excuse me," to his companion. "Lisel, is it? The New Directions overcame tremendous setbacks last year, starting with a half new group in the fall, followed by being robbed of a sectionals win by a cheating opposing team. We went through a lot of ups and downs bonding with each other and suffering numerous setbacks including losing one of our coaches and all. We ended up as the numbers two glee club in the nation, and I think overall we did pretty well. It just wasn't enough to win over Principal Sue-"

"-Second place is just the first loser!" Lise retorted. "So what's the new school year going to bring for you and your merry band of losers?"

"Well," Ryder responded, choosing to ignore the loser jibe for now, "I'm focusing on football for now. Coach Beiste made me the quarterback this year and that is going to take up a lot of my time."

"What about rumors that you're still carrying a torch for the for the Blonde Firecracker, Kitty Wilde?"

"Look," Ryder responded, "Kitty and I are friends. That's all we are ever going to be."

"That's not what I heard," Lisel retorted with a smile. "I have multiple sources reporting that you and Miss Wilde were getting very cozy in a booth at BreadstiX two weeks ago!"

"We were just talking…"

"Talking while holding hands," Lisel answered and walked off without giving him a chance to respond.

She walked down the hall and approached Jake, who was making out with Bree.

"Jake Puckerman," Lisel said, completely ignoring the cheerleader he was with. "What do you say to the allegation that your current relationship with head cheerleader Bree is only a pale substitution for your ex girlfriend Marley Rose, and nothing but an attempt to make her jealous?"

"Marley and I are just friends now," Jake answered irritatedly. "We had our thing and now it's over. I'm with Bree now, and I don't see that changing!"

"Go away, you annoying troll!" Bree retorted and pulled Jake into another make out session.

Sensing that the conversation was over, Lisel moved on and approached Unique and Marley standing next to their lockers.

"Wade Adams," Lisel asked, "What do you say to reports that you were seen taking Birth Control Pills in order to artificially increase your bust size?"

"I say that that's old news," Unique responded. "A lot of Trans kids do it. I've been doing that since last spring, and the name's Unique, little girl!"

But Lisel wasn't phased. "At least I AM a girl! There's nothing that you can do to change the way you were born!"

"You can't say that to her!" Marley, chimed angrily. "If she identifies as a girl then she is a girl!"

Liesel realized that she wasn't going to win this argument so she abruptly changed the subject, and target.

"How about you, Marley Rose, what do you say to rumors that you haven't exactly gone out of your way to support your former glee club mate who has been the subject of numerous incidents of bullying since last spring?"

Marley ignored Lisel and spoke directly to Unique. "Is that true?" Unique nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"And what about rumors that you've distanced yourself from ALL of your glee club mates?"

"I've just even focusing on myself for the past few months -"

"- because or your disastrous breakup with bad boy Jake Puckerman last spring? -"

"- trying to decide what I wanted out of a relationship, as well as my songwriting."

Liesel was about to say something else when she saw a very mopey Kitty Wilde walking down the hall. Like a shark smelling blood, she abruptly forgot about her current prey for now and began following her new target.

"Kitty Wilde," Liesel said, pointing her microphone at the former head cheerleader, "What do you say to the rumors that you're ignoring your former glee club mates in order to stay in good with new Head Bitch and Queen Bee Bree?"

"I'd say that you've got ten seconds to get that microphone out of my face before I shove it down your throat!" Kitty retorted.

But Liesel wasn't phased, "Or the fact that there is a forum on my blog discussing your budding relationship with Quarterback Ryder Lynn, the consensus of which is that he's definitely an upgrade from your wheelchair bound ex boyfriend Artie-"

"Artie and I aren't broken up, Man Hands!" Kitty lashed out. Liesel involuntarily glanced at the hand holding the microphone. "We've just agreed that we can see other people while he's in New York and I'm here-"

"-That's called 'breaking up'," Liesel retorted. "And you certainly didn't waste any time moving on, as I have multiple sources-"

"-Listen here Troll," Kitty lashed out, grabbing Liesel by the collar, "you tell your 'multiple sources' that if they have something to say about me, then they should say it TO MY FACE!"

Abruptly wrestling team captain Phil Lipoff walked by and violently doused Kitty in gripe slushie!

"Welcome back looser!" Phil and his friends Bobby and Dean laughed and walked away.

Kitty was stunned.

Liesel was stunned. "Did you get all of that?" She asked her camera operator, who noded.

"Grrr!" Kitty responded and pushed past Liesel and her camera operator - in the process causing her to drop the camera onto the floor with a loud crash - down the hall, leaving a sticky purple track of footprints towards the closest girls washroom.

== WMHS Girls Bathroom

Kitty rushed into the bathroom towards the sink, and began awkwardly rinsing her face and hair in the cold water. Moments later she heard the door open and suddenly a second pair of hands were helping her rinse the purple goop out of her hair.

She pulled the hair out of her eyes and noticed that it was Marley

"Here, let me help you with that," Marley told her.

"Why do you care?" Kitty asked bitterly, nonetheless letting the other girl help her.

"I'm your friend," Marley responded timidly, picking ice chunks out of Kitty's hair.

"Oh really?" Kitty asked bitterly. "Then why is this the first actual conversation that we've had in over a month? Last spring everyone assumed I would be the one who snubbed the rest of the group, but no one thought that it would be you!"

"Well like I told that Liesel girl," Marley responded timidity, "I've been taking time to evaluate what I want out of a relationship, and focus on my songwriting. Besides, it's not as if you're any better. You've been ignoring the rest of us too."

Marley continued to rinse out her friend's hair.

"I haven't ignored anyone. I've just haven't been talking to the others, other than Ryder, in front of Bree and her henchmen. I talk to Ryder all the time. Jake has been surgically attached to the most vile human being on this earth all summer, so I couldn't talk to him even if I wanted to. But I've used what little clout that I have left to minimize what they are doing to Unique when I can, and cheer her up later on the phone when I can't.

"I don't understand…" Marley offered, surprised. "It's really gotten that bad for her?"

"Bree has made it her personal mission to torment Unique," Kitty informed her. "She wants her to feel so uncomfortable that she has no choice but to transfer. She can't stand the thought of sharing a bathroom with her, let alone a locker room for P.E. She's got most of the cheerleaders onboard, and is starting to rally some of the other jocks too. I think Principal Sue's in on it as well, because the first day of school she confiscated her key to the unisex Faculty Bathroom. Now she faces being ostracized no matter where she goes."

Kitty removed a towel from her bag and handed it to Marley, who began drying her hair for her.

"Is it really that complicated for you to be friends with her?" Marley asked, finishing drying her friend's hair.

Kitty stood up, removed her now soaked uniform top and began wringing it out in the sink.

"Well, this is ruined," she mumbled, referring to the permanently stained top in her hand.

"You really don't get it do you?" Kitty asked her friend, removing a clean one from her bag. "A year ago I was on top. I ruled this school. But I was lonely at the top, and I really did enjoy my time in Grease; so I joined Glee Club and reached out to you merry band of misfits. I knew that the other Cheerios were not really my friends, and every one of them would throw me under the bus if given the opportunity; including Coach Sue. But I took a chance on Glee because you all really seemed to care about each other, and at least tolerated me. And some of you almost seemed to like me.

"But the longer I stayed in glee club, the more status I lost. Last spring nobody even questioned it, and Sue didn't even pay me the respect of informing me beforehand, that she was replacing me as Captain of the Cheerios with Becky and Blaine. I was completely blindsided at a practice. And then she later gave the position to Bree, mostly to hurt me. Being with Artie made things even worse for me, but at the time I didn't care because I had glee, and him."

"How are things with Artie doing, anyway," Marley asked.

"He's super busy," Kitty answered sadly. "He's living his dream and I'm happy for him. We text and skype every few days, but he always seems to have so much on his plate. It's just not the same! I knew it was going to be hard, but I miss him so much more than I expected to!"

"I'm sorry," Marley said, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder in comfort. She'd had her head so buried in her own thoughts that she hadn't realized how tough the last few weeks had been for her friends. She started to move in for a hug, but Kitty backed off.

"Anyway," Kitty said, desperate to change the subject to something besides her relationship with Artie. "The last nail in the coffin of my popularity was Glee Club losing Nationals. That was my last chance to keep some respect among the student population, and we lost. I had hoped that coming in second would mean something, but Sue unceremoniously canceled the club without much thought.

"And Mr. Schuester barely put up a fight and gave up!" She added bitterly.

"Kitty," Marley offered, "I'm sure he-"

"-NO Marley, he didn't!" Kitty snapped. "He gave up on the club and us. He invited his favorites, the all Almighty Original Members, back to say goodbye to the glee club, and once again it was all about them. They got to come back and say goodbye, share memories, and sing songs. While the five of us were relegated to being quiet and sitting off to the side until they had all left, and we got to sweep the floor after the room had been cleared out.

"Didn't that bother you?"

"Of course I felt left out and abandoned," Marley conceded. "But at least we still have each other. And who knows? Maybe Principal Sue will have a change of heart and reinstate Glee? I'm sure Mr. Schue hasn't really given up."

"Do we?" Kitty asked bitterly. "Do we really still have each other? You've been isolating yourself from the rest of us, and now I'm expected to follow the lead of Bree and her henchmen, or else. The only reason that I'm not a bottom of the pyramid cheerleader is because of my athletic ability.

"And just so we're clear, Sue Sylvester has no heart. She's demonstrated that time and time again.

"As for getting Glee back, we are going to have to figure out a way to do that ourselves, because I have ZERO faith that Mr. Schue is going to be of any help there."

"I see….," Marley offered. She didn't realize that things had gotten so hard for her friends. "At least you have Ryder," she smiled.

"Ryder and I are just friends. I know we didn't start out that way, but we have an understanding now," Kitty informed her.

"I saw you together," Marley responded. "I was out to dinner with my mom and saw the two of you together. I saw you holding hands."

"It's a pity that you weren't sitting close enough to actually hear part of the conversation," Kitty retorted. "Or you wouldn't make snap assumptions like that.

"The dinner in question was two weeks to the day that Artie left for New York. I was feeling pretty miserable about it, and Ryder decided to try to cheer me up. I took him to dinner once to make him feel better about something and he returned the favor. The hand holding in question was purely platonic comfort, and the entire conversation was about how much we missed Glee Club, and our friends who had graduated. But mostly we talked about how much I was missing Artie, and his much he was missing YOU!"

Maley was stunned. "... I …."

"That boy has loved you since the moment he first lay eyes on you, and he knows that he made a mistake pushing you so hard to be with him after Jake cheated on you.

"I have three regrets about last year. One, that I wasted so much time chasing Jake. I really dodged a bullet there. Two, that I was so miserable to you for as long as I was. But don't let that go to your head! And three, that I took so long to let Arthur in. I could tell that he liked me almost from the beginning, but my stupid desire to be popular wouldn't let me get close to him. I know we will be together again after graduation, but Skype chats just aren't the same.

"Don't make my mistake. Ryder loves you. Right now I would give almost anything for more time with Artie. If you're not careful, you'll make the same mistake I did."

"What do you mean?" Marley asked timidity.

"Missy Gunderson has set her sights on him," Kitty explained. "Right now he still only has eyes for you, but eventually even he will give up on you. And when he does, Missy will be there."

And with that Kitty tossed her soiled uniform top into the trash, and marched out of the bathroom, leaving Marley with a lot to think about.

Marley stood there for several minutes staring at the grape soiled top, marveling at what had become of her group of friends until the bill rang and she knew what she had to do and walked out to her first period class.

== WMHS Cafeteria, Lunch Time

Marley Rose was heartbroken. She had lost the three things that gave her the most joy: her boyfriend Jake, her best friend Ryder, and Glee Club.

Jake was Marley's first love, and he had betrayed her trust by cheating on her with the evil head cheerleader Bree when Marley refused to have sex with him. After repeated pressure from him, in a fit of anger, Marley had told him that if sex was that important to him, then he should go find someone else to have sex with. She never thought that he would actually do it! She thought that he had really changed.

Jake's betrayal had been the most devastating thing to ever happen to her. All she really wanted was the time to process it. But Ryder, had a crush on her, and in his eagerness, he hadn't given it to her.

Marley knew that Ryder had been carrying a torch for her for quite some time. But he knew that she loved Jake, and tried hard not to let his feelings for her get in the way of their friendships, with mixed success.

Finally she had sent him packing when she was feeling particularly overwhelmed, and he'd honored her wishes and given her the space she needed.

Glee club, the one thing at this new school that gave her any joy had been canceled because they had only come in second a nationals the previous spring. The loss of these three things had devastated Marley, and she'd isolated herself from everyone, including her friends, and managed to hurt them in the process. She'd told herself that it was to focus on herself: what she wanted from a relationship, and her songwriting. But she now saw that was a lie. She'd pushed people away because she was afraid of being hurt by someone else. She hadn't seen that until her conversation with Kitty earlier that morning. Now she needed to begin to rectify that.

Marley entered the cafeteria and scanned the room for the two people she wanted to talk to. Unfortunately, they were nowhere near each other. One was sitting in the midst of a group of Cheerios and other jocks. The other was sitting off to the side all by herself.

She took a deep breath, fortifying herself, and walked towards the first one.

# # # # #

Ryder Lynn's Junior Year was really looking up, at least on the surface. Coach Beiste had just named him the Quarterback of the football team, and his popularity soared. Girls wanted to date him. Guys wanted to be his friend. He should have been happy, but he wasn't.

He really missed glee club and his friends. Like Kitty and the Cheerios, his newfound teammates actively discouraged him from interacting with his old friends. He pretended to go along with it, but it was actually tearing him up inside.

But most of all he missed Marley Rose. Ryder had been in love with Marley from the moment he'd first set eyes on her a year ago. His attraction had only grown as he'd spent more and more time with her; first when they had starred together in the previous years production of Grease, and later when they'd spent more and more time together in glee club.

But there was a problem. She was in love with someone else: Jake Puckerman.

Jake was the school's resident bad boy, and for whatever reason, good girl Marley had fallen for him … Hard. Ryder knew that it was just a matter of time before he showed his true colors. He just needed to be patient, and when it happened, he would be there to pick up the pieces. Several times Ryder saw opportunities, and used them to get closes to her.

But each time Jake screwed up, Marley would forgive him. Over time Ryder had settled into his place in the Friend Zone and slowly started to become okay with it. He'd even started to become sort of friends with Jake. He'd only ever really crosses the line when he'd kissed her after Marley admitted that she knew that it was he who had helped Jake woo her over Valentine's week in the hopes of living vicariously through him.

Just when he had begun to believe that he was wrong about Jake, the unbelievable happened: Jake and Marley had the biggest fight that they'd ever had … About sex. In her anger Marley had told him that if sex had been so important to him that he should go have it with someone else… And to everyone's surprise, he had … With Bree. The head Cheerio hadn't been able to resist bragging to Marley, and Marley and Jake had broken up for good.

Ryder saw his opportunity, and he took it. He pressured Marley into going on a date with him right away, and she did. When Jake confronted them about it, Ryder had overstated their relationship. Marley had immediately put BOTH of them in their places. She wasn't going to date ANYONE.

In retrospect Ryder knew that he should have given Marley time to heal from her breakup with Jake, but he just couldn't help himself. He'd loved her for so long that, like the kiss a couple months before, when an opportunity had presented itself he couldn't resist taking it.

And now he was paying the price. His relationship with Marley had suffered, as had his reluctant friendship with Jake. He had lost both of their trust. After a few weeks he'd begun to mend his relationship with Jake, but Marley was still keeping him at arm's length. He loved her now, more than ever, but she was emotionally distant from both guys and hadn't dated anyone at all, all summer.

He was beginning to think that she would never let him get close again.

And then she was standing there in front of him.

"Can we talk?" She asked. When he involuntarily nodded, she punctuated her request with the word, "Alone."

He reluctantly nodded and excused himself from his newfound friends, and followed her out of the cafeteria and completely out of the school.

== WMHS Courtyard, moments later

Marley lead Ryder out to the courtyard and over to an out of the way table. She sat down and gestured for him to join her, which he did.

"I've missed you," she began

"I've missed you too," he responded cautiously. "I did what you wanted. I gave you some space."

"I know," she told him. "Thank you.

"So how have you been?" She asked casually. "I hear that you're the Quarterback now. That sounds exciting."

"It is, I guess," he answered with a sigh. "Not as exciting as it would be if Glee Club hadn't been cancelled, though."

"Yeah," she answered. "I miss it too. It was the one place that I felt like I belonged."

"Do you think we'll ever be able to find a way to get it back?" He asked.

"I really don't know," Marley answered. "Kitty seems to think that Principal Sylvester was pretty immovable on the subject."

"You've been talking to Kitty?" Ryder asked cautiously.

"Yeah," she answered, "this morning. She helped me see that in my focus on myself and my own problems, I've pushed my other friends away…. especially you!"

"Look," Ryder said, surprised, "I'm not sure what she said -"

"- She told me that you've really missed me, and still loved me," Marley told him.

"Was that really a surprise?" He asked. "I've loved-"

"No," Marley answered. "You're made your feelings perfectly clear. I understand, and I'm sorry if you think I've been unfair, but I'm still not ready to date ANYONE."

"I know," Ryder responded, "I'm sorry that I was impatient and pressed you to date me so hard last spring. If I had it to do again, I'd have given you the space that you were asking for."

"Thank you," she responded. "That means a lot."

She reached across the table and placed her hand on top of his, gently squeezing it affectionately.

"But just so you know," he added, "When you're ready, I'll still be here."

"You don't have to wait for me," she told him, loosening her grip on his hand. "It might be a very long time until I'm ready to date again."

"I know," he told her. "But you're worth it."

She just nodded and the two is them sat there in silence for several minutes.

She wasn't completely sure she had gotten through to him and that he did understand, but his apology seemed more genuine than the one he'd given her last spring.

"Well," she said, finally breaking the awkward silence. "Lunchtime is almost half over, and I have one more person that I need to talk tall to."

She rose to her feet and began walking back towards the school entrance.

"Marley," he called out. She stopped and turned back towards him. "I really am sorry," he added.

"I know," she reassured him, and headed back into the building.

== WMHS Cafeteria, Lunch Time, moments later

Unique Adams sat alone in the cafeteria. With Glee Club gone she had lost her social circle, as each of the other four remaining members had broken among the various other social groups in the school. Marley had chosen to isolate herself from the rest of them completely, while Ryder, Jake, and Kitty had spent most of their time with the members of the athletic groups they were involved in.

With Glee gone, the bullying had returned, with a vengeance; and without her friends to support her, she began to get very depressed. Surprisingly it had been Kitty who had been the one to make an effort to stay in touch, even if she had to do so discreetly. But she has done it, which was more than she could say for the others. She'd apparently even followed through with her promise to retaliate against the people who tormented her. One of the cheerleaders who had been involved in the bullying had come out of the shower in the locker room and found Nair in her shampoo bottle. The girl wasn't bald, but her hair had definitely thinned out in places. No one had ever owned up to it, but she had a feeling that it was Kitty's doing. And for that she was grateful.

Unique watched from afar as Marley entered the room. She knew that Marley had seen her, but instead walked off in the opposite direction towards Ryder. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. It was no secret that Marley and Ryder had been close friends until she had chosen to distance herself from the rest of them.

She really missed her friends and Glee Club. Over the summer it had been each to put that out of her mind and focus on other things, but now that school was back in session it was becoming increasingly impossible to ignore.

She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Marley standing in front of her, tray of food in hand.

"Can I sit here?" The taller girl asked.

When Unique nodded, Marley sat down next to her.

"I thought that we should talk," the taller girl said.

"If you want," Unique told her.

"You never answered my question," Marley began. "Why didn't you tell me about the bullying?"

"I didn't think anybody cared," Unique answered, timidly.

"Of course I care!" Marley told her friend, completely blown away by her answer. "Why would you think that I didn't care?"

"Because you our conversations earlier in the hallway was the first time that you've said a word to me all summer," Unique told her.

Marley open her mouth as if she were going to dispute what her friend was saying. But she abruptly closed it again, realized that her transgender friend was right. She really hadn't been a good friend to her.

"I'm sorry," Marley said. "You're right. I've been so wrapped up in my own problems that I haven't been a good friend to anyone…. especially you." She formed the meek innocent face that she sometimes got when she wanted something, "Forgive me?

Unique eyed her friend cautiously, but finally noded.

Marley enveloped her in a hug, and the two friends spent tn the rest of the lunchtime catching up on their respective lives.

== WMHS Courtyard, later that afternoon

Kitty Wilde sat on a ledge looking out on the other students, each in their own social cliques. Each feeling like they belonged. But Kitty didn't really feel like she belonged anywhere. She hadn't in months.

She felt completely and totally lost. She didn't know where she belonged anymore. The only place that she ever really felt like she belonged was Glee Club. But Glee Club was gone and with it most of her friends. Some had graduated and moved on with their lives. The others were all doing their own things.

She no longer had that daily excuse to spend time with her only real friends at McKinley: Marley, Unique Jake, and Ryder; The others having graduated or move on to other things.

Since glee club had been canceled in defeat for their loss at nationals, they were now considered failures by most other students; something that had been actively encouraged by Principal Sylvester. She only wanted winners at her school, and "second place (even if it was in the whole nation) was just that first loser," was her motto.

The sad part was, Kitty had once agreed with it.

She was still a member of the Cheerios, but no longer high in the hierarchy with the senior members. She had given that up the previous year by choosing to date Artie and be friends with glee club members.

She no longer enjoyed it as much as she had, and briefly considered quitting, but she knew that she needed the status that it afforded her to survive in high school even if she was no longer on top. She knew that Bree would like nothing better than to force her off the squad, but she was one of the best members, and even Bree and Coach Roz knew that they needed her if they were going to retain their title as National Champions.

She was forced to see her friends in private and act as if they weren't friends in public to avoid being hazed by the other Cheerio members. Coach Roz was a bitch and refused to do much of anything about it, choosing not to see what was happening.

She had intended to keep the promise that she made to be friends with the former glee club members to stay friends with them, and she made an effort to do so. She ate lunch with and hung our after school with Ryder when she could. Marley had chosen to isolate herself until that morning, and Jake was spending all of his time with Bree, also effectively isolating himself from the rest of them.

But her teammates on the Cheerios made it completely impossible for her to publicly be friends with Unique. Bree and her cohorts on the Cheerios made it their personal mission to torment Unique on a daily basis, and made it clear that Kitty and the other Cheerios were expected to go along with it. Kitty didn't actually hurl insults herself, but she did laugh rather uneasily when socially necessary, and then avert her eyes in shame. She felt terrible but didn't know what else to do.

Instead of feeling accepted, she realized that she had never felt so alone in her life; except the time immediately after she had told her friend Julie what her brother had done and she had her friends turn against her. Last year was the best year of her life, but judging by the first couple weeks, this was shaping up to be the worst.

Kitty missed her friends. She missed Glee Club. She was angry at Mr Schue for giving up on it so easily. But most of all she was angry at Sue Sylvester for ending Glee Club in the first place. She promised herself that she would not rest until she'd gotten her revenge on Sue, and the club had been reinstated.

# # # # #

Cast:

Becca Tobin as Kitty Wilde

Melissa Benoist as Marley Rose

Blake Jenner as Ryder Lynn

Alex Newell as Unique Adams

Jacob Artist as Jake Puckerman

Erinn Westbrook as Bree Campbell

Introducing

Brooks Markham as Liesel Ben Israel

Marissa von Bleicken as Missy Gunderson

# # # # #

Author's Endnote: So what do you think? Please read and review if you want me to continue this. Thanks!

[ Note: Minor text revisions 2/7/17, including the addition of a cast List. ]